Education Resources for Parents
FREE Tutoring continues to be offered through Gwen's Girls. Click on their name to find out more.
With the political unrest in our country, Education Elements has put together a Resources for Learning Communities in Times of Crisis for parents, students, and teachers. It includes lessons and activities for children (Pre-K-12) in History/Government/Civics, as well as Self-Care and Supporting Children Experiencing Trauma.
Voices Against Violence hopes you are able to take some time to talk with the children in your life about what they're feeling and thinking about what's happening. They need us to hear them and be there for them.
BROWN MAMAS - Homeschooling Resources
This link has so much to offer in regards to teaching your children or helping them to become better learners. The BROWN MAMAS website has awesome information for women, mothers, and parents on a wide variety of subjects; it's well worth a deep dive.
How to Talk to Kids About Racism, Riots, and Recovery
Center for Racial Justice in Education: Resource for talking about race, racism, and racialized violence with kids.
Parents: How to teach your kids to fight hate: an age-by-age guide
NPR: 'Raising White Kids' author on how white parents can talk about race
Buzzfeed News: An essential reading guide for fighting racism
EVERY MONDAY MATTERS
We are all living in a unique and challenging time right now as the COVID-19 virus has completely changed everything for everyone. Every Monday Matters, figured out a way to still serve the thousands of teachers and educators and the millions of students that we reach with our EMM K-12 Education Program. To do so, they have launched a brand new “Home Education Resources” portal.
The portal is completely free for you to access and includes resources for everyone:
Hundreds of hours of Social and Emotional Learning lesson plans for teachers and educators
Activities for parents and families to use as part of your remote schooling
Live and recorded classes taught by us for students
We truly hope these resources help. Please know how much you matter to us and be well. You matter.
RESOURCES for FAMILIES & STUDENTS: https://www.everymondaymatters.com/educators-teachers/
YOUR CHILD CAN CODE! Learning computer science when schools are closed – FREE!
We are facing an incredibly challenging time with the global outbreak of COVID-19, grappling with growing concerns over health, our communities, and the economy. Safety measures have brought widespread school closures across the country.
There are all sorts of fun activities, games, and videos that make learning to code FUN!
Parents – if you're considering creating a FREE Code.org account for your student or helping them access an existing account, please read this primer.
Virtual STEM Opportunities
Your kids can now participate in FREE online ZOOM Experiment Sessions with Citizen Science Lab! Fascinating subjects like the Cabbage Juice PH Indicator, Strawberry DNA Subtraction, Lunar Lander, and Crayon Rock Cycle will peak their curiosity and engage their minds with new topics for conversation.
These sessions are date and time specific and require online registration.
Also, this share - Courtesy of Citizen Science Lab - makes at-home teaching super easy with these FREE links to Middle School Science Lessons. Compliments of Carolina Science Online. Loads of curriculum for at-home learning at your disposal.
Carnegie Library - Learning during COVID-19 and ADHD: Resources for Parents
YOU CAN APPLY FOR A LIBRARY CARD FROM HOME!
All late fees are currently suspended during the COVID-19 Emergency.
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Homework & Testing Help and eResources –Great for working on projects that require research or verified sources, or just finding a book to read, listen to, or watch. For children of all ages and their caregivers.
This selection of eBooks available through Overdrive features titles that may be useful for Homeschooling.
CLP also has tons of activities for kids from babies to high schoolers on our social media channels. Check out CLP’s Teenspace on Instragram for Teen Time activities, book suggestions and more.
Carnegie Museums from Home – With links from the Museums of Art and Natural History, Science Center and Warhol, your kids can go behind the scenes, paint like Andy Warhol, check out an amphibian party with a scientist, try some NatureLab activities and more.
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh’s Museum At Home – Videos bring maker activities from the Museum and MuseumLab straight to your screen.
The Children’s Book Council’s Publisher Online Resources – Bring to life the books you have around the house or eBooks you find through carnegielibrary.org. This list of links takes you to free resources, activities, discussion guides, teacher guides and more produced by individual publishers. Some activities require a printer, but many others don’t.
Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer’s Facebook Music Concerts — Two-time Grammy Award Winners Cathy and Marcy are CLP favorites! They’ve even trained our Children’s Librarians on how to integrate music into kids’ events. Here they’re offering free Wednesday evening Facebook concerts that are family-friendly and tons of fun!
Common Sense Media’s Wide Open School – With both offline and online options for kids in preschool to 6th grade, this collection of resources can be broken down by grade levels and by subject matter, including “emotional wellbeing.” My family loves Go Noodle for brain breaks and National Geographic animal videos.
PA Parent and Family Alliance #HomeTogether resources – This broad range of resources is compiled by Alliance, an organization which seeks to elevate and connect the voices of families of children, youth, and young adults who have social, behavioral, emotional, and learning challenges. From videos of children’s stories in ASL to live bald eagle webcams, there’s tons to explore for all families.
Phipps Conservancy’s Let’s Move BINGO – Challenge the kids to get BINGO on this online card. Creative reimagining can change “went to a fitness class” to “did a fitness class from YouTube.” The whole family can get moving together.
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Dance the Story – Little ones can “Dance the Story” with Education team member Kerra Alexander on Facebook.
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Creative Connections – These quick virtual learning tools are designed by Trust Arts Education Teaching Artists for learners of all ages. They use materials you may already have around the house. Activities include visual arts, movement, music, and more.
Pittsburgh Public School’s Virtual Out-of-School Time Opportunities — Many of PPS’ 120 Out-of-School Time providers are working virtually to support students and families. Choose from a long list of options for at-home activities, video sessions, and more.
Stay In and Read! from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – My daughter perked up and got motivated when I told her the Library had invited her to do a reading challenge. Download the Beanstack Tracker app to make logging books a breeze. For all ages.
WQED & PBS’s Resources for Emergency Closings –This curated collection of resources organized by grade and subject area includes videos, lesson plans, and activities that support learning at home.
Enjoy the Carnegie #MuseumFromHome
Explore the Collection: Bask in beautiful works of the permanent collection—which are your favorites?
Online Journal: This award-winning online journal, Storyboard, dives deep into the themes, artists and projects at the museum over the past few years.
Explore the Archives: Discover the history of select archives of the museum.
Educational Resources: These ready-to-use lesson plans take inspiration from the artworks in the collection and are appropriate for a variety of age groups.
Get In On Some Artsy Fun!
Want a new look at art? Look to the museum of a famous Pittsburgh native.
Develop tools to respond critically to challenging works and appreciate multiple viewpoints.
Visit the Warhol’s most popular lesson plans for kids age 10+!
Or try your hand at these techniques often utilized by Warhol:
The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC)
Wildlife on WiFi, a hub of conservation and wildlife-themed educational resources, activities and content to support educators, students, and parents with home-based learning through the remainder of Pennsylvania’s academic school year.
The Wildlife on WiFi hub (https://www.pgc.pa.gov/Education/Pages/Stay-at-home-Learning.aspx) is grouped under three themes with lessons, activities, videos, and live animal webcams accompanying each:
Wildlife Science
You see wildlife on state game lands, in parks, and even your backyard. But have you ever wondered how biologists ensure our state’s wildlife populations thrive? Find out with this collection of lessons and videos.
Discover Backyard Wildlife
You do not have to visit one of Pennsylvania’s state game lands or parks to view wildlife. It can be discovered at your doorstep! Check out this group of lessons for ways to explore wildlife right in your backyard.
Celebrate Pennsylvania Birds
They flock, roost, fly, wade, and waddle! They are also some of our favorite members of the Pennsylvania wildlife family. Celebrate Pennsylvania birds with this collection of lessons and activities.
YMCA OF GREATER PITTSBURGH – YWITHYOU
Live Group Exercise Activities
Instructional Workout Videos
Healthy Recipes
DANCE PARTY!
EVERYBODY CAN GET MOVING AND HAVE FUN!
DJ Selecta (Grand Groove Radio Show – 91.3 FM)
Online at: Facebook.com/jscoglietti
Spins records for up to 9 hours at a time!
Orlando “Buscrates” Marshall (Old School Funk)
Online at: Twitch.tv/buscrates
NATIONAL PARK VIRTUAL TOURS
We are all living in a unique and challenging time right now as the COVID-19 virus has completely changed everything, and many are struggling with spending so much time indoors. These links will help you “travel” to our amazing national parks from the safety and comfort of your home.
The links are completely free for you to access.
Virtual Tours of U.S. National Parks (Article with Links)
National Park Foundation - Virtual Visits
Mother Nature Network - How to explore national parks with virtual tours
NATIONAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD VIRTUAL TOURS
Because of the COVID-19 virus people have been confined and unable to travel. There are many amazing places around the world, and these links will help you to experience them from your home.
The links are completely free for you to access.
Nine breathtaking virtual tours that let you explore the world’s natural wonders
Amazing Natural Wonders - Virtual Tours
5 Virtual Tours of Natural Wonders Around the World to experience during this lockdown
CREATE Lab
Explore information about how our planet is ever-changing, check out EARTHTIME, designed by Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab’s: https://earthtime.org/#about
FREE - CMU CS ACADEMY
A novel, world-class, online, interactive high school computer science curriculum that is entirely free.
Create a free account and explore the classes and opportunities!